Nokia Asha 501

This week a report has been struck by the folks at Counterpoint Research that suggests that it's Samsung and Apple ahead in the sales of smartphones worldwide by a mile throughout the month of October. Their research shows models sold throughout the world, so to speak, surveying 33 countries throughout it, including China where they suggest a boom has occurred this late 2013. Oddly enough it would appear that both the Nokia 105 and the Nokia Asha 501 are up in the ranks as well, taking on the 8th and 10th spot in sales respectively.

If you thought Foursquare was going to abandon the smallest of the small, the cheapest of the cheap in smartphone technology, you were wrong. Here this week the folks developing Foursquare have released the app for the Nokia Asha 501. This is a device that does not have GPS abilities - this would normally hinder an app that largely depends on such data - but no worries! This version of the app will use location data picked up by your network connection.

Nokia's play to retake emerging markets, the Asha 501, has begun its assault, hitting shelves in the first two countries this week. Arriving initially in Thailand and Pakistan, Nokia says, ahead of imminent availability in India, the Asha 501 borrows the eye-catching colors and unibody design from the company's Lumia Windows Phones, but runs a new OS, the Asha Platform, borrowing elements of MeeGo, Symbian, and others for an interface that runs smoothly despite the relatively humble (and cheap) internal components.

Nokia’s Asha 501 may have been met with a surprising degree of positivity for a budget smartphone, its $99 price tag and distinctive design undoubtedly helping critics overlook its rough edges, but it nonetheless faces strong competition from budget Android devices in emerging markets. The first of the new Asha Touch series, building on a revamped platform using elements of S40 and Nokia-acquired Smarterphone OS, the Asha 501 is distinctive arguably not because of its specifications – which are relatively mundane – but because Nokia has given the aesthetics of the handset the same degree of consideration it would its high-end Lumia Windows Phones.

Nokia will not launch its new Asha Touch range of affordable smartphones, such as the Asha 501 revealed earlier today, in the US or Canada, the company has confirmed, focusing North American sales solely on Windows Phone. The Asha 501 - which will cost $99 pre-tax and subsidies when it hits stores from June - will be the first of a line of handsets running the new Asha platform, which builds on Nokia's S40 and acquired Smarterphone OSes; however, those in the US with an eye on a cheap smartphone won't get the chance.

Nokia has announced its latest handset for developing markets, the Nokia Asha 501, relaunching the Asha touch series and borrowing some of MeeGo's usability for a mass audience. Arriving in India, Latin America, and Africa from late June, and priced at just $99 pre-tax and subsidies, the Asha 501 debuts a new interface with a twin-pane homescreen, pulling apps into one view and then - a side-swipe away - notifications and recently-used items into a second, Fastlane view.

Take Nokia's estimable skills in crafting solid, affordable smartphones, a dash of MeeGo-learned interface know-how, and a motivating desperation to own the developing market, and you get this, the Nokia Asha 501. First of the new Asha Touch series, and toting an ambitious $99 (pre-tax and subsidy) sticker, the Asha 501 does what Nokia would argue only it can: distill the build quality and usability of a Lumia into something with the mass market reach of an Asha. The 501 makes its debut in India today, but SlashGear caught up with Nokia last week to find out exactly what makes it special.